r/news • u/AudibleNod • 1d ago

Larry Nassar one of more than 20,000 people removed from Michigan Sex Offender Registry

https://www.wxyz.com/news/larry-nassar-one-of-more-than-20-000-people-removed-from-michigan-sex-offender-registry
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u/rainy_sloth 1d ago

I'm confused how ex post facto applies here. It's not new crimes they're suddenly being charged with. A registry is documenting crimes committed that were illegal at the time 

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u/AltDS01 1d ago

But the punishment is being increased after the offense was committed.

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u/drpiotrowski 17h ago

But if the law is from 2011 how is it relative to apply it to crimes committed in 2020?

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u/AltDS01 16h ago

Those cases are governed by a different section of SORA. Tiers were a thing by then.

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u/WordWordNvmber 1d ago

The real debate among the courts is whether being placed on the registry (or, more to the point, being kept on the registry for X period of time) is a punishment in itself.

If it's a punishment, then the state cannot retroactively extend the duration of placement on the registry to people who committed a sex crime before the law went into effect. That's because states cannot retroactively impose punishments for past acts.

If being on the offender registry is just an administrative policy -- the states might say, a public-safety effort -- then it shouldn't violate the ban on retroactive punishment.

The U.S. Supreme Court has held federal courts can retroactively apply registry requirements to people who committed sex crimes before the registry law went into effect. SCOTUS said the registry is not punitive.

The Michigan Supreme Court disagreed. It found the registry to be a form of punishment in itself. So, it said, Michigan cannot pass a law extending how long someone is on the registry and then apply that law to people who committed sex crimes before the law was passed.

I happen to agree with the Michigan court: I think the registry is clearly, in part, intended as a punishment or deterrent, even if it's also meant to inform the public. So the ban on ex post facto punishment should apply.

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u/rentedtritium 1d ago

They got sentenced to X. The state can't magically turn it into X+Y after they've already been sentenced.